Is Facebook Advertising For Bands Worth It?
Bands have a number of options when it comes to advertising. In the past the site to advertising a band would have been Myspace, as it was actually set with bands specifically in mind, allowing them to advertise their music along with post pictures of the band and get the word out quickly to their fans. With Myspace not in favor anymore, Facebook has taken over a lot of its role in getting the word out for bands. However, a legitimate for bands is whether or not advertising on Facebook can be worth it, or if they should try something else.
Facebook offers a number of nice options for anyone trying to get the word out about just about anything. They offer a way to find experts in their fields and friend them, allowing people ways to follow what those experts are doing. It also allows local media outlets to be found quickly, which can be vital for anyone with a press release who wants to get it out as quickly as possible. It also allows people to link up industry-wide, which can be very useful in an industry where contacts are everything.
It can also integrate a number of different sites across the web. This is a great feature for those who have music on one site, videos on another, and possibly a blog or two. By using Facebook, a band can let their fans know when they have posted new music or videos quickly and effectively. It can also promote its page, making sure that it is seen by more than just those following the band. The band can also spread out into areas past the local scene, creating a following in areas that it has never heard of before.
However, this requires some work. Just as with Myspace it helps to make sure that the fans know about the link, and so there is the need to advertise somewhat. The band will also need to maintain the page, with reasonably often posting their gigs as well as photos and personal thoughts. Although they can do this through a manager, it is usually better for one of the people in the band to do so. They also need to keep posting to their other links as well with reasonable frequency in order to take advantage of a synergistic link between all of the links. A Facebook page can work, but it takes some work.
In the final analysis, a Facebook fan page is well worth the time a band puts into it. But that is key; if they put too little time into the page then it will not perform as well as the band needs it to, and will be more of a waste of effort than anything else. In short, if the band is serious about promoting itself, then it needs to do whatever it can in order to get the word out, and Facebook fan page will only work as hard the band running it.